An Australian radio tower manufacturer has found the perfect solution for a difficult moving task
Manufacturing and construction company Australian Radio Towers (ART) has found its perfect match with a new Isuzu FYJ 300-350 truck.
Outfitted with a high-powered PK 14402-EH Palfinger crane and paired with a 6.8m long twin-axle dog trailer, it matches all the specs required to move unwieldy radio tower parts.
Chris Ratcliff from ART says the truck is proving handy in transporting and carrying the lengthy towers.
“We carry equipment that takes up a lot of space, but not a lot of weight,” Ratcliff explains.
“As you can imagine, a radio tower takes up a fair bit of room, but it doesn’t have a lot of weight because it’s got to be streamlined and efficient to be able to go up to 160 meters in the air.
“The setup can be a bit more awkward to get around tight corners, but it gives us more carrying capacity and with the front mounted crane, allows load sharing over the twin axles at the front.“
The crane is the spectacle of the vehicle, capable of carrying more than five tons at close range and just shy of a ton at a range of up to 17 metres.
Ratcliff says it has already received plenty of attention from onlookers, but that’s not all that makes it special.
“We’ve got a hooter of a crane on this truck, it turns heads and makes it unique. Wherever it’s parked, people will come noticing,” Ratcliff says.
“We went with the FYJ twin steer and bogie axle, with a tandem trailer because that setup suits what we do.
“It gives the option to take the truck to site, or we can take the truck and trailer and leave the trailer out on the road if we need to, it just gives us versatility.
“The team love the inside of the cab on the FYJ, it’s modern, luxurious and everything works so well. It’s perfect for us, absolutely perfect.
“It has already done over 20,000 kilometres since we picked it up in early 2023 and it hasn’t let us down yet.
“That’s the reliability we are looking for.”
Based in Murwillumbah in Northern NSW, ART also has a warehouse in Victoria and services customers nation-wide and in the Pacific. The company currently employs more than 140 people.